WANDERIN BOY EUTHANIZED, SPRINGSIDE INJURED AT AQUEDUCT
Stone Farm’s Wanderin Boy was euthanized after breaking down at the top of the stretch in Saturday’s Cigar Mile at Aqueduct and James and Alice Sapara’s Demoiselle winner Springside will be taken to the New Bolton hospital in Pennsylvania after pulling up from her 9 ½-length victory with a fracture of her right front pastern.
Wanderin Boy (pictured, left) was forwardly placed in the Cigar Mile, then began to lose ground on the turn for home under John Velazquez. He fractured the sesamoids in this left front ankle, was vanned off and x-rayed, but could not be saved.
The 7-year-old son of Seeking the Gold was coming off a strong second to Horse of the Year Curlin in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. The Cigar Mile was the 25th career start for the Arthur Hancock III homebred, who won nine races and earned $1,213,759. Wanderin Boy, trained by Nick Zito, won graded stakes at ages four, five and six.
For more on the Cigar Mile, won via disqualification by Tale of Ekati, go the www.paulickreport.com.
Springside, a 2-year-old daughter of Awesome Again trained by Josie Carroll, was winning for the third consecutive time after scoring a maiden and allowance victories at Woodbine. She rallied from last in the six-horse Desmoiselle field, then was pulled up past the wire by jockey Garrett Gomez. “When she was galloping out, she swapped leads and I heard a pop,” Gomez said. “She never indicated that anything was wrong. Hopefully, I got her stopped in time.
“All the way around, she was very willing. When I moved her to the outside, she was really impressive. It is a shame that whatever happened, happened.”
Dr. Anthony Verderosa, chief examining veterinarian for the New York Racing Association said: “It is not a simple fracture, but the (right-front) pastern is intact."
Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report
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Tags: anthony verderosa, aqueduct, arthur hancock iii, awesome again, catastrophic injury, cigar mile, Curlin, desmoiselle, euthanized, Horse Racing, horse racing injury, james and alice sapara, john velazquez, josie carroll, nick zito, nyra, pastern injury, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, seeking the gold, springside, stone farm, wanderin boy, woodbine
November 29th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Man what a bummer. Wanderin Boy was such a good horse. This just breaks my heart. I didn’t even see it until the replay. Man RIP Wanderin Boy…………. YOU are loved.
November 30th, 2008 at 1:53 am
Thank you for this report. It still truly amazes and disappoints me that so very little is said at the time about horses that break down. Surely there is some way to appropriately and respectfully acknowledge and honor these majestic beings who give their all. Unfortunately I have witnessed breakdowns both in person at racetracks, and on HRTV and TVG, and it is almost impossible to get even the basic news. I realize announcers and broadcasters are in a sensitive position. But surely they can do better.
RIP Wanderin Boy…you showed a lot of guts and heart throughout your life and you will be missed. Condolences to all the connections, and especially Nick Zito. Hoping for the best for Springside.
November 30th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
there were more breakdowns in 25 racing days at Aqueduct than at sarataoga and belmont combined.Time to replace the main track
November 30th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Wanderin Boy…that is just an arrow to the heart.
November 30th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
I was reading today the history of injuries Wandering Boy went through during his lifetime. I typically follow along the same beliefs of Arthur Hancock and think he is a fine ambassabor for the welfare of the horse, however I would have disagreed with this horse running had I known his history.
Ray, I’d love it if you did a segment on the condition of the Aqueduct race track. I lost a horse on that track a few years back. Two horses died that day, the following day the jocks refused to ride and the track super eventually admitted to the press that the track was in sad condition however there was no money to fix it up. There was an extreme number of horses that died that month and I remember sitting in the stands and it was topic of conversation amoung the track help/trainers. There is much fear for the little guy to speak out though.
Is this still the case? If so, why is this not at the forefront of the news? You couldn’t pay me enough to go back to that track.
November 30th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Maybe racing should be ended until horses with sesamoid injuries can be saved. Horses have lived with artificial legs, so why do small sesamoid injuries cause the death of so many horses? Tim Tam was saved in 1958 after he damaged his sesamoid. It would seem that 50 years later they would be able to save most horses with this type of injury. I’m sure the easiest and cheapest way out, especially with geldings, is just to euthenize them. And racing 2-year-olds should definitely come to an end….but because of the huge amount of greed in racing, it will probably never happen.
December 2nd, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Steve Haskin attributed the death of Wanderin Boy to the horse’s inherently fragile legs. Wanderin Boy suffered one fracture after another throughout his life, the first having occurred while he was still a baby. To my mind, his medical history begs several questions.
If his legs were in fact “inherently†fragile, was something wrong with his breeding? Last summer Arthur Hancock told Congress that the lack of proper regulation within the industry had led – practically forced – breeders to produce fundamentally unsound horses. Was Wanderin Boy, bred by Hancock, one of these? Should a horse who has broken his legs multiple times even be racing at 7?
Was Wanderin Boy on any injury-masking medications? I know that Nick Zito has the reputation of caring for his horses, but I also remember his “no comment†when asked at the Belmont about steroids. Did questionable drugs (whether legal or not) enable Wanderin Boy to keep racing despite his brittle bones?
Did the track’s condition contribute to his death? A couple of your readers seem convinced that something is wrong with the track at Aqueduct. If so, wouldn’t Nick Zito be aware of the track’s poor condition? And if he did know, should he have sent Wanderin Boy to run there on those fragile legs?
In fact, if something is really wrong with the track, should any trainer send a horse there? Should the NYRA allow the track to operate if its condition is responsible for needless deaths and injuries?
Why aren’t the same questions being raised about Wanderin Boy’s death that would be raised if he had broken down in a high profile race on network television? He wasn’t a superstar but he was a good horse and I would like to know whether his death was purely accidental or whether any of the many problems plaguing the industry was responsible.